Has it been that long........

I didn't expect to stop posting for such a long time. Guess cooking becomes a routine that it takes the gloss of posting blogs. Time flies! But I must say cooking will always be something you can do for your loves ones that they will always remember for the rest of their life.

Well, I do. I always appreciate the person who takes time/energy to prepare the food on the table. We may not realise it but it does need lots of love and passion to cook for love ones.
Some called it chores..some called it routine ( acknowledged ) but really I think its a gift!

Just dishing my tired minds while away from home.

"To Cook Is To Love ! "

Kuching Laksa

Kuching Laksa seems to be high on the pecking order of my list of favourite food. Going to Kuching would not be complete without eating Kuching Laksa. So one has to really try this excellent dish. The most difficult thing about this dish is the laksa paste. Thanks to Kuching made Laksa Paste Cap Layang Layang readily available now in most supermarkets which helps cut down the hassle in preparing this dish. They say nothing beats having Kuching Laksa in Kuching but I say, "Nothing beats cooking Kuching Laksa at home & having more of the condiments or ingredients suited to your taste."

It was fun though doing it minus the bean sprouts which I don't really fancy. It is as close as I can get to a Kuching Laksa at home.

1 packet of Laksa Paste - 300g
2 packets of Rice Noodles
3 Eggs
2 Chicken Breasts
2 Chicken Carcass - Broth
Prawn - 500g
Fried Tofu/Taufu Pok

The tricky bit is the paste. First, boil chicken carcass with 2cm of pounded ginger to get a rich broth. 3 litres of chicken broth would do just nice for 300g of laksa paste. Add the paste & simmer for at least 45 minutes for it to blend well with the broth. Next, do a few rounds of sieving to get rid of paste sediments, then add fresh thick coconut milk (250 ml). Simmer for another 30 minutes & it's ready for business! The rest of the ingredients are straightforward.

Serve 8

Happy 55th Birthday Mom!

It was a memorable weekend & I'd the priviledge to cook dinner for my mom's 55th birthday. Nothing fancy - just good ol' family dinner together. Nothing beats cooking for the special person in your life. I knocked off early from work last Friday & not really knowing what to cook till I reached the market place.

Menu for mom's birthday:
Herbal Chicken
Buttered Prawn
Pak Choy with Dried Scallops
Fried Trevally (ikan putih) with Dark Soy Sauce

Mum asked me how much did it all that cost. I replied her, "RM1 for every year of your birthday." Not much of a cost but then again, it's priceless moments that I'll always cherish.

Chicken Rendang

Rendang is my favourite Malay dish & also it's fun to cook. I used chicken for domestic reason but beef would be more to my liking. It does look or feel like a complicated dish to cook but in actual fact it's rather simple with many little preparations, similar to performing an experiment in a science lab with its set of instructions. Sometimes it works, sometimes it sucks. Either way it'll only make you a better cook.

Into the blender :
3 cm of Galangal (lengkuas)
2 cm of Ginger
5 Cloves of Garlic
8 Shallots
4 Lemon Grass
2 Big Chilis
1 Packet of Chili Boh (chili paste with salt & vinegar)

Other ingredients:
1.5 kg of Chicken Thighs
Coconut Milk - 1 liter
Rule of Thumb: 1 Coconut will give ½ liter of Thick Milk
1 Cup Grated Coconut - Dry fry to become Kerisik
Fennel, Cumin & Turmeric Powder - 1 Teaspoon each
Brown sugar
Salt
Lime Leaves - Daun Limau Purut

Heat up your pot & add 2 chinese spoon of oil. Fry the grated coconut till brown before adding the blended ingredients (fennel, cumin, turmeric powder & chili boh). Stir till the aroma surrounds your kitchen then add your chicken. Next, add coconut milk & simmer under low/medium heat till gravy turns thick. Add brown sugar & salt to taste. Finally, the lime leave to garnish which adds the extra punch to it!

Yum!

Strips of Pork Chop & Cha Sau (Roasted BBQ Pork)

Dish 1: Pork Chop

I made this dish specially for my two boys. I even nicknamed one of them pork chop for his love of pork. Make sure to tell the butcher you want lean meat for making pork chops or doing BBQ pork - "Cha Sau". I think I got a good deal for 1.7 kg of pork for only RM22 which I bought from Foh Sang.

500 g of pork meat
( sliced & marinated with light soy sauce, sesame oil, salt & pepper)
Constarch
Egg lightly beat

As for the sauce:
Brown sugar (2 teaspoons)
Tomato sauce
Constarch
Lemon
Ginger
Salt

Dip sliced pork meat in egg & batter it with constarch. Deep fry it in a non stick pan. Repeat for all the slices. When meat is cooked, keep it aside on a kitchen tissue to absorb the oil.

For the sauce, add some oil & ginger, plus the rest of the ingredients. Add a little water & heat up till gravy thickens. Pour the sauce onto the pork & serve.

Dish 2: Cha Sau

From the remaining of the 1.7 kg pork, I took about 1 kg of it to make my own version of cha sau or cha siew or sasau - depends who's talking :o)

Marinate overnight with:
2 Cubes of Salted Bean Sauce (Tauhu Masin)
Osyter Sauce
Salt/Pepper
Chinese 5 Spice
Cha Siew Sauce
(Lee Kum Kee Brand recommended)

Roasting:
Convection oven
conventional oven,
open fire-BBQ
or your choice really
at 180°C for 20 minutes &
150°C for another 25 minutes.

Not made to order.

Sweet & Sour Fish

Well, the picture don't do justice to this dish. I might need to buy a DSLR Camera - Nikon D40x or something equivalent or perhaps it's the photographer's fault. Glad I'm just the cook. The fish I used is "Bawal Hitam" or Dark Pomfret. Bought at surprise! surprise! Giant City Mall for RM12. A bit pricey but fresh & convenient.

Dark Pomfret 800g - Plate size
Tomatoes
Capsicum
Chili

Sauce:
Tomato Sauce
Sugar - 1 Teaspoon
Vinegar - 2 Chinese Spoon
Brown Sugar
Constarch

Make 3 cuts on each side of the fish & add salt all over. Deep fry in a hot wok till it looks crisp.

Don't worry about the hot oil in the wok. The oil won't kill you :o) I get a little burn here & there. We'll get used to it after a while. Hold the tail of the fish & slowly dip it into the hot wok. Turn the fish 2 to 3 times to make sure it is thoroughly cooked. Put aside on a paper towel to absorb oil.

To make the sauce, add a little oil & saute the veggies, then add all the sauces. Pour a little water & allow sauce to thicken. Later, pour sauce on the fish & serve.

Well, enough of sweet & sour dishes for now :o)

Salad Chicken - Chicken Mayo

Some call it chicken chop or salad chicken. Easy dish & what we'd normally order when eating out. Use chicken breast for the soft & succulent meat :o)

500 g of Chicken Breast
Worcester Sauce
Salt/Pepper
Constarch

Marinate the chicken with Worcester sauce (Lea & Perrins), then mould them with constarch & shallow fry. When cooked, put aside on paper towel. Slice chicken evenly, add mayonnaise & serve. Easy. Kids should like 'em!